"2, 9, 17, 21."
2. Does your character have any noteworthy features? Freckles? Dimples? A scar somewhere unusual? etc.
He has various scars around his body throughout the years, as well as some aging on the plates of his face. Still, nothing is really distinct enough to stand out or be memorable.
9. Does your character dream or are their nights filled with an empty blackness? Describe a dream they’ve had or a night they couldn’t sleep and what they did to preoccupy their time.
He does, in fact, dream. However, it’s very rare that he’ll remember it. Most nights he has trouble falling asleep to begin with, and when he does, he’ll turn around and twist himself up in covers. When he’s given up on attempting to rest, he’ll attempt to return to work, if he can. If not, he’ll watch classic vids or listen to music to give himself something to focus on and divert his thoughts.
17. Is your character an introvert or an extrovert? How do they handle big crowds of people?
He’s an extrovert. He does love going out and spending time with people, but he’s selective; both about what he’ll do and who he’ll do it with. He has a small number of people he cares about, and with them he’s very sociable. Adrien’s neutral to most other people. On the other hand, he’s perfectly content with solitude and quiet. He’s spent many years like that, anyway. Victus is calm in large crowds. However, he might have flashbacks if these crowds get rowdy — he doesn’t have PTSD, per se, but it will draw his attention, briefly, to memories of battles he’s had. It won’t particularly jar him, however.
21. Your character has been granted 3 wishes; what would they wish for and why?
1. The safety and security of the turian people. If there were a way to make life better and more equitable for turians — no matter their colony — he would.
2. His wife and son. While he’s moved on from Calpurnia’s death, which was over eleven years ago, he’s carried massive emotional scars ever since, and he regrets that things had not been different for them. Especially with Tarquin, where Adrien regrets his inability to have raised him with more outward affection. He had always loved his son, but he showed it through discipline. It was the only way he knew how. If he had even one day to speak to them both, he would take it. He’d say the things he never got the chance to.
3. This is no joke — he’d wish for Shepard’s happiness. He sees much of himself in them, and he respects few others in the way that he does the Commander. Adrien also sees the opportunity for their happiness to be fulfilled in a way that his own was not. He’s content with his lot; that’s enough for him. But Shepard deserves so much more. He will make a great effort to secure what he can for them.
"What is one of your muse's lesser known passions?"
The exploration of new worlds. Sometimes his postings took him on UNC missions. Even if it was hellish and grueling, something about the raw wildness of these planets, moons and anomalous satellites stirred the fire in him, the dogged determination to search for the truth, to step foot on an ancient continent for the first time in turian history — to be one of the first landing teams on the site of a new colony that would sustain his people for the next thousand years or more, or look up at a foreign sky and see fantastical cosmic views. There’s nothing else that can compare.
"What is your favorite thing about a person you have affection for? Without saying names."
{ The faint outline of a smile plays at the corners of his mouthplates— }
“Strength of character. The dedication and wherewithal to push forward, no matter what. Even when they don’t realize they can. I see it. And the passion to protect loved ones. That’s…a gift.”
"Your muse is fighting along side a team of your trusted/loved crew members/team/squadmates, and they watch them die in the same explosion. How does your muse react?"
It always began and ended the same way, didn’t it?
His successes tasted sweet only vis-a-vis the pain of the loss that had preceded them. Victories were meaningless without sacrifice. Accomplishments meant nothing without struggle.
Why, then, did another piece of him fracture and crumble as he watched the hellish glow of the explosion, blaze reflected in the chrome of his armor, the twin mirrors of his eyes. His face showed nothing. Not sorrow, not anger, not surprise. Time stilled — and then went on forever.
His hands clenched at his sides, helpless…until he raised his rifle once more. Damned be this galaxy and the people it had taken from him. Every shot, every kill he took with a coldly renewed vigor reclaimed a spirit that he had loved. His family. His friendships. His comrades in arms. He would grieve later. For now, numbness and steely resolve had settled over him.
He fought this war for them.
"Do they believe in the Spirits? What is their religion like, how do they practice it? (cropped the question to the pertinent parts for a turian)"
[I was hoping someone would ask this]
For all of his exclamations of ‘Spirits!’ he does not actually believe. He used to, perhaps, because it was so ingrained in his culture growing up, but his is the mind of a staunch realist. As he grew older, he was particularly leery of Temple Palaven and the dark-robed priests, there. He attributed that mainly to the general lack of visibility — he doesn’t care much for religious orders that are steeped in ancient mysteries. It conflicts with his opinions on how to live harmoniously, progressively, efficiently.
Besides, the stories of giants striding across the surface of Palaven were far-fetched to him. By the time he was born, it was already a dying religion. The interest in the guidance of spirits was far more widely practiced, and accepted, so he took it up along with his parents and kept his reservations about the old gods of Temple Palaven to himself.
As a young man, he was wilder and more rambunctious than he is today, and this further led him from paying much thought to spiritual matters. Sometimes, even today, he feels an inkling of guilt for feeling so apathetic about the beliefs that his parents and grandparents treasured. Overall, he moves forward in his life without much worry about such things. His concerns are the material world — the people within it, who respond to his actions and reactions. This is the connection that he understands.
He may pay lip service to the spirits, such as in turian funerary rites, but he considers this more of a concession to culture rather than anything supernatural.
"29."
29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favor solitude and silence? Why?
He gets restless when he’s idle. For all the stresses and responsibilities he’s burdened with, he’d be a great deal more distressed if he had nothing to do, or no way to help. At this point in his life, he’s comfortable with (or perhaps simply accustomed to) a great degree of silence and privacy. It soothes him. However, if this silence is paired with an inability to move forward, or if it halts action, Victus does get restless, yes.
"Can they multi-task or must they focus on one subject at a time?"
He’s a consummate multitasker. Being a general requires the ability to consider a lot of variables, far in advance. Granted, advancing through the meritocracy brings different kinds of challenges, and - ironically - a lot less personal involvement regarding detailed management….but overall, more broad strokes and sweeping changes. He has to multitask well or risk losing the pieces he’s juggling.
"( 1 and 6 ) "
1. What position does your character sleep in? ( i.e; stomach, side, back, etc. ) Describe why they do this — optional.
Lately, he has trouble sleeping in general. He’ll often start on his back, one arm under his head and another over his stomach, usually when he’s contemplative and awake in bed for hours. Once he does fall asleep, he’ll often change positions a lot and tangle up the covers — or wake up with all of them pushed on the floor.
6. If you were to pick one song — and only one song — to describe your character, what would it be and why?
Oh, I thought this was going to be really hard. In terms of finding a song that describes Victus alone, it would be, yes. But almost immediately, I thought of this, and how it describes so much of his relationship with Tarquin. I’m sad. :c
"02. In what ways would you say that you're a unique example of your species? "
I’ve been asked this before, to which my answer was predictable. My stratagems and martial methods are unorthodox. But I will not be redundant. There is another aspect of me that has gained some distinction, separate from the core of my own morals. I have grown more lenient, in many ways, vis-a-vis many military parents I am familiar with. I’ll elucidate.
After Tarquin’s death, I’ve reflected on the circumstances that led to where he was in life. What could have been done differently, what should have been done differently. As a result of this rumination, my perspective has shifted. Just enough. I feel a sympathy for the disaffected turian youths where once I had none. I’ve tried to understand them, to hear them out and help them before passing judgement and murmuring a word of censure or disapproval.
For Tarquin’s sake, I’ve tried to understand, and to be patient. I learned this lesson too late to help my own son, but perhaps I can still be there for other young men and women, struggling to find their path. Too few turians from the old military families like my own are willing to make such concessions. And I fear for their children.